Hello, it’s Chef Dijon, from themostsearched.com!

Instead of New Year’s resolutions like, “lose weight,” or “learn French,” I decided to knock a few items off the video recipe bucket list, and “making Dijon mustard” was first on the agenda. I’m not sure if I’ve ever kept a New Year’s resolution before, so this is a new and strange experience. It’s also great on hot dogs.

This recipe comes from my friend, and About.com’s Food Preservation Expert, Sean Timberlake. Since I’m a newbie, I wanted to use a recipe from someone I could harass in person if need be. That won’t be necessary, as this came out pretty well for a first attempt.

By the way, Sean says you can start to taste the final flavor profile after three days, but I recommended a week in the video, just to play it safe. It really does take some time for the rawness to wear off, and that familiar mustard flavor to emerge.

In hindsight, I should have used a real blender to grind the soaked seeds. I opted for the hand-held for a better shot, but I don’t think I extracted as much flavor as I could have. I really enjoyed the texture, but I think I will try another batch in the blender, and go for something smoother, and even stronger.

As with all condiments, you can and should adjust this to your taste. This style of Dijon doesn’t contain any sweetener, but a little sugar or honey are common additions these days. You can also adjust the acidity, and I did add a little more than called for, since I tend to like things on the sharper side.

Speaking of acidity, I just canned mine using the hot mustard to seal the sterilized jars. This is not a product that will spoil easily, but for any kind of long-term storage, you’ll want to can in a hot water bath (see instructions here).

So, if you were looking for a totally doable, and completely edible New Year’s resolution, then this might be for you. Thank you to Mr. Timberlake for sharing his recipe, and I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted ever so slightly from this one by Sean Timberlake/About.com.
Ingredients for four (8-ounce) jars of Dijon:

1 1/2 cups white wine

2/3 cup white wine vinegar (original recipe calls for 1/2 cup)

1 cup water, plus more as needed

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup yellow mustard seeds

1/4 cup dry mustard

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt